Descendant
by Mina Grey
Summary: The first child of Reed Richards and Sue Storm had no evidence of any powers  until an accident triggered them.  Unpredicable at first, as soon as she learns to control them, she will prove to be more powerful than even the Fantastic 4.
1. Chapter 1

The earliest memory I have is being in a lab. When I was born every possible test was run on me, first of all, to see if I was healthy. After that, it was to see if I had any powers. After all the child of Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman was bound to have some kind of ability. A lot of things were discovered, like how my skin appears to be twice the thickness of a normal humans and how my blood disappears once it hits the air. But as for abilities, that's where it gets a bit ambiguous. We really don't know what I can do.

I closed the cover of my laptop and sat back for a moment. My writing assignment was going to be tougher to do than I thought. I was supposed to write about a momentous occasion in my life. Well, there really hasn't been one yet. I suppose when my parents saved Greece after the earthquake. Or when my Uncle Ben got married to Alicia. But they really weren't momentous occasions for _me_. That's because I haven't done anything. I am almost 20 years old – and even my father – the great Mr. Fantastic could not discover if I have any abilites.

I sighed and stood, stretching my arms above my head. Then I slipped my laptop in my backpack, shouldered it, and left my room.

"You off to the gardens again?" My roommate asked from the couch. "Nope, gonna go to the real gardens today. For a little of the good old fashioned polluted air!" I said laughing. One of my father's projects was a new age garden facility of an entire block that is complete with a biosheild around it that keeps the air free of the cities pollutants. But on occasion, I still preferred Ringalla Park. I took the elevator downstairs and out into the sunshine. It was nice out, with some clouds in the horizon. One short subway ride and then I set up under my favorite tree. Opening my laptop again, I decided to do some other homework first. I was in my second year at MIT, for structural engineering and I had some models to fine tune in my CAD program. My dark brown hair blew across my face; I grabbed it annoyingly and threw it up in a ponytail with the hairtie I always had on my wrist. I also pushed up my glasses from where they had slipped down onto my nose.

"Excuse me?" I looked up from my computer. A woman with her daughter stood in front of me. "Are you Jenny Storm?" I smiled and nodded. "I'm sorry to bother you, but my daughter Angela wanted to meet you. I know sometimes she wished her parents were part of the Fantastic Four!" The woman said with a laugh. I grinned and looked at the little girl. "Trust me, not always fun especially when you go to storm out of the room and your mom puts up a force field." The girl smiled.

"What's your superpower?" My grin faltered.

"Well, we're still figuring that one out. Could be anything." I shrugged. "I think I know what yours is." The girl's eyes got wide.

"I have a superpower?" she asked. I nodded solemnly.

"You have the ability to make anyone you meet fall absolutely in love with you."

She grinned wide and her mother laughed.

"Lets leave Ms. Storm to her work. Thank you again." I shook my head.

"Not a problem. Bye Angela," I said, waving as they left. I was used to it. Growing up in the spotlight was crazy at times, but it was just a part of my life.

It was raining by the time I headed back towards home. I was hunched over trying to keep at least my stomach dry, when I heard the screech of tires. I looked up to see a car lose control and slam into one of the street poles that held up the crossing lights. More cars contributed to the crash while I stood frozen. I blinked and it was all over. Smoke was rising from two of the cars and I heard others screaming around them. There was a sputter and I looked up to see one of the light cables sparking.

"Get away!" I dropped my bag and ran towards the cars. "The cable!" I screamed and making many spectators run for it. I saw a small group still huddled around on of the cars. "The cable!" I screamed again as I ran. It was at that moment that it broke free from the pole. I grabbed the back of the first person I could and yanked them out of the way. The next thing I knew, a jolt of fire ran through my body and all went black.


	2. Chapter 2

When I opened my eyes, all I saw was white light.

"Am I dead?" I groaned. "Thank god, no." My mother said leaning over me. I blinked and then I knew where I was. I was in one of my father's labs. "I thought I was electrocuted." I whispered, my throat tingling. "You were," I turned my head with a wince to see my father step out from behind his desk. With my parents by my side, I instantly felt better. "You are a very lucky young woman. You will have some scarring on your back but its easily fixable." I shifted, now feeling all the bandages on my lower back. "We were keeping you here for observation, but everything seems okay. The tests all show normal." I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment. "Just rest honey," Mom said, smoothing back my hair. Her touch seemed to settle my tingling nerves and without another thought, I drifted to sleep.

It was two more days till I was able to move around on my own. I knew Mom and Dad were worried still, so I tried to put on a good front. But the thing was, I felt different. For one thing, my nerves were always humming and it make me restless. I stared at my ceiling in my dorm. I was back at school at MIT, with strict orders to call if I felt the least bit sick. Right.

I rubbed my face wearily and sat up. I looked up at the picture I had of my family. The Fantastic Four. Plus me. Reaching out, I gently touched the picture. I never knew what it was like to have a special ability. But I knew a lot about being in the shadow of them.

Suddenly, under my fingertips, the glass….rippled. I snatched my hand back in alarm. What the….? Hesitantly I reached out again and touched the glass. It was as if I was touching a surface of water – the glass rippled outward from my fingertip. I stared in amazement at the picture then poked it again. It happened again. Over and over I poked it and watched as the solid picture frame rippled. I moved onto the wall and then to the door. It happened on anything I touched. That was how my roommate found me when she entered our place.

"Um, Jenny, you ok?" I looked up in mid poke, standing on my chair. "Do you see this?" I poked the wall, it bending under my touch. Tina just raised her eyebrow. "You poking a wall? Yeah I see it and I'm a little concerned…" "You don't see it move?" I poked it again, the wall rippling. My roommate just stared at me like I had gone insane. "You are telling me you can't see this…?" I slammed my hand against the wall…..and sank up to my elbow _into_ the wall. My roomate's jaw dropped. "That….I saw," She said, her eyes wide. I stood there, shocked and then smoothly pulled my arm back out of the wall. "Whoa." I said.

"All the technology in the world, and I can't get ahold of my parents?!" I said frantically as I waved my phone around Tina was trying to calm me down as I poked the numberes on my cell phone with a little too much gusto – my hand just slid right through my phone. "Here give it to me." I handed her my phone and then the feature on the TV caught my attention. "Turn that up." I said pointing. Tina pushed the volumn up button on the remote and the news reporter's voice came through.

"Just ten minues ago, a size 10 earthquake ripped though Japan. Emergency officials have already been dispatched, and we have just heard that the Fantastic Four are enroute and will add their collective powers to the rescue aid." I sat down heavily next to Tina and listened as the news reporters explained the details of the devistation.

"Well, now I know why I couldn't get a hold of them." I motioned for her to mute the TV. "I guess I'm on my own for this one." I went to push myself off of the couch – and fell through it, yelping as my butt hit the floor. I hurriedly stood up, stepping out of the couch as Tina looked on with a sympathetic face. I stood there, with one hand on my hip.

"Ok, I've got to watch what I touch." I muttered. Tina stifled a laugh.

"Be careful not to touch your clothes with your hands then." A look of horror crossed my face and my hands shot out away from me.

Unfortunatly, Tina had a seminar to attend in the evening in the city that required her to stay overnight. So I was on my own for a whole day and night. After she left, I thought I'd just stay inside for the rest of the time. So I was sitting gingerly on my bed, peering at my computer, having turned it on with a pen I grabbed with my mouth. So far everything I touched rippled and became intangible. I was trying to find a way to turn it off and on, but so far, I've only learned two things: I could only affect things I touched with my hands (thank god – I could only imagine what problems I would have had if I affected everything my skin touched); and I didn't have a very far range. I think the farthest range I had was an arms length, and that was only when I was in a heightened sense of emotion. Most of the time, it was mere inches. So far, no on or off switch. Just then my computer beeped, saying that I just got an instant message.

"Open IM." I spoke outloud. The computer beeped again and the file opened. It was from my friend Jessica.

I was so wrong. Could you come over please?

I sighed in frustration. Jessica had a serious boyfriend issue – I found her with a black eye once and told her to leave the creep. I thought she had dealt with this

"What happened?" I audio typed.

Please, just come over.

"I am kind of held up…" I audio typed but I didn't get a chance to send

Please, he hit me again and I'm scared

I bit my lip and then spoke

"I'll be right there."


	3. Chapter 3

It was an interesting experience getting to her apartment. I managed to slip my purse onto my arm without touching it and someone got the elevator for me. Paying the taxi was hard – I couldn't grab my wallet. Finally I managed to grab a twenty and told the guy to keep the change.

Outside of Jessica's apartment, I kicked on the door. "Jess, it's me!" That's when I heard her scream.

"Jessica!" I tried to open the door, but it was locked – right before the doorknob phased out. I looked at the door and raised my hands. The door rippled at my touch as I channeled my frustration to it. Then I took a deep breath and the door phased completely – letting me walk right through it.

I lowered my hands and saw the mess. It looked like a struggle had happened. I heard the whimper and Kevin's voice as he threatened my friend. I ran to her bedroom and saw him towering over her as she huddled in the corner.

"Hey!" I yelled. Kevin looked up, madness in his eyes.

"If it isn't the interfering girlfriend." I ignored him and looked at Jessica.

"Come on, we are leaving." Kevin didn't move.

"She's staying with me." I narrowed my eyes at him and walked closer. What could I do? If only I could reach out and grab her from him like my dad could. Or create a force field to protect her. All I could do was phase objects and not even at will. Kevin made a move for Jessica, forcing me to halt.

"The police are on their way." I lied stepping closer. I couldn't even grab the vase next to me to hit him with if I had to. Kevin's face turned pale and he turned to Jessica.

"If you won't be with me, you won't be with anyone." Then to my shock, he grabbed her around the throat and start choking her.

"No!" I jumped on his back and put my hands on his face. He reared backwards, throwing me off onto their bed. Stumbling in pain, he turned towards me and my mouth dropped open – something was wrong with his face – it was like it melted for a moment. Then I blinked and it straightened itself out. I looked at Jessica.

"Run!" I screamed. She tried to get past him, but he turned and grabbed her arm. I rolled off the bed and placed my hand on the floor. Anger, Rage, I thought of how he treated my friend. The floor was already rippling, reaching outwards, fast. It caught his foot and he sank up to his ankle into the carpet.

"Wha…?" He looked down, confused, giving Jessica a chance to get away from him. I scrambled to my feet. As soon as my hands left the floor, it solidified and Kevin gave a blood curdling scream. I paused in running after Jessica and looked back. Kevin was clawing at the floor round his foot, screaming and crying. I realized in a moment what I had done. I had just crushed his foot with the concrete floor. Horrified, I stood there frozen.

"Jessica, call the police." I whispered. She was standing outside her bedroom and took off for the phone. I just stood there. I wanted to release Kevin, but was afraid of what he might do if I did. So I waited until the cops showed up to release him.

After he was taken into custody and the ambulence took him away, I sat down next to Jessica. She was still very shaken.

"Thank god for you Jenny." I didn't answer, didn't even return her hug. What if I accidentally touched her and phased her? I saw that I had done something to Kevin's face when I touched him – it didn't ripple like other objects did. But something happened.

Jessica's sister showed up late that night and stayed with her. I offered to stay, but Jessica let me go, saying I had done enough.

Back home, I just sat there staring at my water bottle in front of me. My family was busy and I had no one else to turn to for help. I was on my own. So taking a deep breath, I reached out my hand gripping my bottle and tryed to stop the ripples. No go. The bottle phased, and water splashed onto the table. Frowning I let go of the bottle – which solidified – and ran my fingers through the water. I didn't see the ripple effect in the water like I did solids. Maybe different elements were affected differently by my power than others. I reached out to grip the once full bottle again. The rippling started almost before I touched it. That was new. I held my hand just by it, not touching it, and saw the ripples start. Narrowing my eyes, I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. If there was one thing I learned from my mother was that her powers responded to her emotions. I looked up and noticed the ripples slowing down slightly. I closed my eyes and thought of nothing at all. Opening them up again, I saw that the ripples were still there – but they were much slower now. Hesitantly, I gripped the bottle. Immediately, they started speeding up, but I could grip the bottle for a full five seconds before it became intangible.   
Well, it was progress. Anything to find a way to control it. Although I did make more progress as the night went on, I couldn't get Kevin's face out of my mind. I had hurt someone with my powers the first day I got them. But then I saw him choking my friend. Straightening up, I put him into the back part of my mind. I didn't have a choice.


	4. Chapter 4

The phone was ringing. I opened my eyes groggily and very stiffly sat up. Please tell me I did not fall asleep at a 90 degree angle.

"Bad decision." I groaned and looked around for my phone. Unthinkingly, I just grabbed at it and it became intangible even before I reached it. Frowning annoyingly, I grabbed at it again, this time more focused and I was able to snatch it. Smiling tiredly, I flipped it open.

"Hello?"

"Jennifer?" I sat straight up.

"Mom?"

"We got your messages, honey, what's wrong?" I hesitated.

"I know you guys are busy with that earthquake…"

"Jennifer Richards-Storm, if something is wrong, tell me right now." I took a deep breath.

"I have an ability."

I half heartedly tried to talk my mom out of coming home, but inside, I was relieved. I needed answers to what was happening to me and how far it could go. In the end, Mom would be the only one returning – the other three would stay and continue with the relief. I was glad that I wouldn't be taking the majority of the worlds saviors just because I was having a little trouble.

A few hours later, I was pacing in my parents laboratory, holding the infamous water bottle – sans water. I was practicing, hoping that by the time my mother arrived, I'd have something to show her. It was getting easier, phasing the bottle and not phasing it. But while I practiced, other thoughts were going through my head. Now that I had a chance to think about it, I realized that I had my impromptu electrocution earlier in the week to thank for my state right now. That's when it started, so it makes sense.

I heard the elevator and raced to it. As the doors opened, I ran into the arms of my mother.

"Mommy!" I cried, making Sue Storm laugh and hug me tight. She leaned back and looked me in the eyes.

"Now, tell me exactly what happened." I sighed and place my hand on the wall next to us. When my hand went through it, Mom's eyes widened. I nodded and led her out of the elevator.

"Yeah."

After I told my mother everything, I agreed with her to run some tests. It took a couple of hours of me in the fun chair with some wires hooked up to me and then some more random tests of my abilities.

"You were right about the electrocution having something to do with all of this. Now, I might not be a super genius like your father, but I still know enough science to keep up with him. Apparently you are giving off a kind of pulse that affects that which you touch with your hands, or that which you are close two. Look," She brought up a video of me with my hand on the wall, then my hand going through it. Then she typed in a few keys and the video became black and white, with my figure just an outline on the screen. But around my hands was what looked like a fine mist. When my hand touched the wall, the wall, which was now represented as a molecular structure, started to move – to ripple- under my touch. The mist looked like it was spreading through the wall. The molecules moved, allowing my hand to go through the wall.

"So it isn't me who is molecularizing – its what I touch." I murmured. I gingerly sat down in a chair.

"What concerns me is what could happen if your entire body starts radiating this pulse – you could involuntarily activate the molecules in the floor and fall right though it. Gravity will then take you down, down…..as far as you could go." My eyes widened and I looked in panic at my mother. "To what, burn at the earths core?" This was bad – I hadn't even thought of that.

"Lets not get excited. But I think I should call your father. He would have an idea of what to do if that happened. For now, if you feel like that is happening, just tell me and I'll put a shield around you."

I looked to the side. What if I phased the shield? Could I even do that? I tried to focus on my mother, who had continued talking.

"Different states of matter are affected differently by you, so good job on noticing that one. You've seen what you can do with solids - as for liquids, those will be harder to affect because liquid molecules are already more active. Gas molecules will be the hardest because they are the most active of all three states. As for different elements, same thing – the more active the molecules already, the harder it will be for you to affect them." I slowly massaged my forehead. I was getting a headache.

My mother's comlink beeped and I looked up. She answered it and I saw her frown.

"Are you sure?" I saw her glance up at me and then look away. "I'm on my way." Mom pressed a button and closed her eyes for a moment then took off her lab coat.

"What's up?" I asked, jumping out of my seat and following her as she walked past.

"Aftershock." I got up as she walked past. "We'll have to continue this later-"

"I can help." Mom shook her head.

"Absolutely not. We have no idea what extended use of your powers could do to you and you do not have enough control to help us." I tilted my head and narrowed my eyes, watching as she grabbed her bag and entered the elevator. The doors clicked shut and I ran forward. My mother looked up in surprise as I stepped through the elevator doors and crossed my arms in front of me.

"No control?" I asked her. We argued all the way down to the first floor of the Baxter Building. She threatened to keep me here with a force field. Like she could keep me there indefinitely. Finally I said that if she didn't take me with her on the jet, that I would find the first flight there with volunteers.

The flight was silent on my end with my mother telling me all sorts of things not to do and that I would only be with the clean up crew and not with rescue. I think she knew I wasn't listening.


	5. Chapter 5

We were able to set down in a park in Tokyo. When I arrived there, I couldn't believe my eyes. The devastation seemed endless.

"Where do we even start?" I asked. Emergency teams parted to let my mother and I pass to the main tent, that was luckily unaffected by the second aftershock.

"It's good to have you back, ma'am. There is something you should know." Mom stopped next to the soldier. "Your husband and teammate Grimm were in the rubble when a building collapsed on top of them. We have com with them, but they are unable to get out without compromising the rest of the building. They have survivors with them. At the moment, Grimm is was is holding up most of the building and Richards is trying to find a way out. It's been 43 minutes and they are running out of oxygen fast." Mom's expression was stoic. I've never been afraid of my family not getting out of a situation. But seeing everything firsthand was unnerving and for the first time in my life, I was scared. "And my brother?" "Mr. Storm was flying high giving us readouts when it happened. He's trying to contain a couple of explosions a couple of miles away by burning a back fire. He said he would report here as soon as possible." Mom nodded.

"I want a team and medics on standby to help with the survivors." The soldier nodded and frowned at me. Sue turned to me and nodded. "This is my daughter Jennifer. She is to come with me and stay with the team in a safe zone." I heard her stress the last part for my benefit. The soldier didn't like the idea of babysitting, but he didn't say anything.

The building we came too looked as if it was a mountain of steel and glass. Mom was talking to Dad on her com – it looked bad.

I was about 100 feet away forced to watch as Mom took her stance and started her force field. She was going to try to lift a portion of the building enough to let Dad get the survivors out and then Grimm can move without worrying about hurting anyone. The problem was that she had to make the force fields perimeter much larger than needed because she couldn't see exactly where they all were. I glanced over the shoulder of this soldier who had the plans of the building on his laptop. I looked up to see my mother straining to build up the force field. She was awesome – the mountain of wreckage was lifted upwards slowly…

"Mom!" I screamed as the mountain of rubble shifted and a section started to landslide towards her. She threw up another field to protect herself but she couldn't keep both fields going for long without tiring. I glanced back at the computer screen and then broke free of the safe zone. I heard soldiers yelling at me to stop and I ignored them. And they couldn't stop me either. Five years of track finally got put to good use. As I neared the rubble, my mother spotted me out of the corner of her eye.

"Jenny, no!" I came up to the rubble, stopped, looked back at her and put my hand up. I felt the ripples start even before I touched the steel. Then I turned and disappeared into the wreckage.


	6. Chapter 6

It was dark; I couldn't see anything. But it was like I could feel the molecules shifting around me. It was like moving underwater at first, then it got easier to move through. I walked blink, holding my breath with my hands out in front of me. Then I felt air.

I stepped forward and stumbled over something, bringing me to my knees. The structure groaned. I looked up to see a piece of shifted wreckage falling towards me – I put my head down, squeezing my eyes shut, screaming –

Something wrapped around my stomach and yanked me out of the way. I flew backwards into the arms of my father.

"Dad!" I turned around and hugged him. He stroked my hair, the same dark curly hair he had, and just held me close.

"Sue told me you were here, but how…" I shook my head.

"It's my ability….Dad, I can walk through walls. With your help, we can get everyone out of here now." He raised his eyebrow.

"Your mother is working on it…."

"She is dealing with keeping herself from getting crushed – some of the wreckage shifted – She's got too much to deal with." Dad touched his earpiece.

"Sue?" I didn't here a response, but the look in my Dad's eyes told me that I was right.

"I can help." Reed Richards looked over at Ben Grimm, who was busy holding up the entire structure to even glance at us, and at the others. There were seven survivors, three of which were unconscious.

"Ok, I have an idea."

I was to phase the rubble to let my father get the three unconscious ones out first then he would come back and lead the others through. Then Mom could plow her way through to get Uncle Ben out. It wasn't like any of this stuff could hurt him.

I took a deep breath and rubbed my hands together. Looking back at my dad, who had an unconscious woman in his arms, I prepared myself.

"You have to hold your breath and its about 8 feet to the other side." My father nodded and I turned back to the rubble.

"Whatever you do, don't stop and go fast." I said and layed my hands on the steel frame in front of me. As one, Dad and I walked through the rubble, with him slightly in front of me. It seemed to take forever to get through, but that could be because I was focusing so hard on forcing the ripples to extend beyond me to my father in front of me. Finally I stumbled into the fresh air and I took a deep refreshing breath. My dad had already handed the woman off to a soldier ten feet away and turned back to me. I saw Mom concentrating on holding up the collapsing wreckage from burying everyone further.

"Ready to go back?" I nodded and turned around.

The next two went through without a hitch. Now came the hard part. There was practically no oxygen left in the bubble under the wreckage. Dad wanted to try to get everyone out at once. He would stay outside and I would go inside, round up the rest of them, and then phase the wall. Dad would extend his arm in and create a lifeline for them to grab and follow outside. The problem was that I had to keep all 8 ft phased at one time for about 15 seconds. I have never done that before. Not even tried. It was easy when it was just me and my dad. Now I'd have to keep the rubble phased around four other people – without moving myself. I explained it all to them and when they understood I turned back to the wall of rubble. I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Then I put my hands up and walked through it. I went about four steps and stopped turning. I spread my arms out wide on either side and felt the molecules get activated.

Now Dad, I thought to myself. I felt his arm stretch by and then the people started moving. They were about halfway through when I started sweating. It was like the molecules were fighting me to become solid the farther away they were. I felt them slow down – why?! Then I knew it was because the molecules where becoming denser.

I started to panic – if I lost it, they would be crushed instantly and I would feel it. I gritted my teeth and pushed back at the wall, forcing it to succumb to me. I had no more breath left. I started stumbling towards the outside perimeter, feeling to see if anyone else was inside the rubble. They were all out now. Thank god. I felt the fresh air on my face and dimly looked around, trying to catch my breath. People were rushing about the survivors and I saw my dad rushing towards me. Oh, there was my Uncle Johnny too -

I put my hand up to my lip and it came away with blood on it. My nose was bleeding? I looked up and then everything spun and turned white.


	7. Chapter 7

Blinking, I tried to bring into focus the world around me. I was in one of the rescue tents. Unintentionally, I groaned, feeling like I had been thoroughly beaten.

"Whoa there, champ." I looked over to see my Uncle Johnny immediately stand from where he had been sitting next to me.

"Bout time you came around. You know," He coughed. " Your parents were worried." I raised my eyebrows at him.

"And you weren't?" He scoffed, sitting down agin.

"Nah, you're tougher than that." I laughed and groaned again as my body protested. Same old Johnny. Growing up a single child, he was always stuck with babysitting me. While he used to gripe, I know he loved it. We were pals. Its funny, I thought, looking at him now, that he hasn't changed much in 20 years, except for a few barely noticeable wrinkles around his eyes – which he will deny having.

"I should be helping…" I started to rise, but Johnny stopped me.

"Don't you worry about that – in the two hours you have been out, the situation got back under control. They even told me I was no longer needed, can you imagine that?" I grinned. "People always need Johnny Storm. So I hear we got ourselves a Fantastic Fifth – what is this about a power?" I grinned wider.

"Wait till you hear what I can do." I started. Not that I had any idea of all the things I could do in the future as I got a better handle on things. I had a feeling though, that walking through walls would be the least of my abilities…

Three weeks later….

"Ready?" I nodded, grinding my sketchers into the ground.

"Forget it kid, you are going down." I glanced sidewise at Johnny's smug face. I just grinned.

The buzzer went off and Johnny and I took off running. Our two tracks were identical and parallel to each other – except that mine had walls up in front of me every five feet. Steel, wooden, concrete, all kinds – and nowadays it was cake to walk through them. I phased through my fourth wall, and I could see that I was keeping up perfectly with Johnny. After my tenth wall, there was the final wall up. Johnny's side had hand and footholds – mine didn't. I jumped upwards and phased only the parts of the walls I needed to create my own footholds. Halfway up I heard a whoosh and looked up to see Johnny sitting at the top, his flames dissipating around him.

"Dude, that's cheating!" I gasped as I reached him.

"Hey, some people are just faster, kiddo." He said as we both descended. Mom came up to us and glared at her brother before turning to me.

"You have officially met your set time." I whooped and pumped the air. I had originally ran without the walls to set a time for me to strive for. Running through all the walls slowed me down a full three seconds for each wall the first time I went through.

"So does that mean I'm finished with training?"

"Now let's not get ahead of ourselves. Your powers are going to keep growing, so the moment anything out of the ordinary, you need to contact your father or me." I nodded, but my mind was already on the many projects I was behind in at school.

"Ok, so lets get some pizza or something. I'm starving." I slyly smiled and dropped my headband on the floor. Standing, I turned to Mom.

"Let's go." Mom and I turned to leave.

"Hey!" I just laughed as Johnny yelled behind us. I had touched the floor and phased around his feet, trapping him there – safely. With some help from Dad, I am now able to phase someone in to the floor or wall without injuring him.

"I guess speed isn't everything," I said smirking.

The next day, I was running behind, trying to finish my errands, and of course, being hounded by the dammed paparazzi. Now, fans I can deal with, but these scum sucking mongrels really got on my nerves. Before I had powers, they hounded me but now it was like open season, especially since unlike the others, I couldn't really do anything about it. Dad could reach up and pull himself out of the craziness, Mom could go invisible, Ben could just give them a look, and Johnny, well, Johnny was the only one who loved it. But if he wanted to, he could just jet off. I couldn't do anything without getting in some trouble.

I ran into the bank where the news knats were barred from entering. Standing in line, I was rummaging in my purse for my checkbook, my nose almost touching the rim of it. Please tell me I didn't forget it….!

The distinctive sound of multiple guns cocking made me freeze.


	8. Chapter 8

"If anyone moves, they are dead." A toneless voice said behind me. Three men who looked perfectly normal walked to the center of the bank where the tellers were - they must be with the man behind me because they were not taken down.

"And you, miss Storm, will not try anything funny." I frowned.

"I know who you are and what you could do if you wanted to. So if you try anything, this little girl behind you will pay for it." I heard her whimper and clenched my teeth. I couldn't see him, couldn't move, couldn't do anything if I wanted – plus the guy had a gun. I looked at the wall to my right and realized that the obsidian wall reflected those behind me. The man was three feet behind me, a thin rat looking guy. His hand was on the shoulder of a young girl, and his other was holding a gun to her temple. Her mother was standing next her her, gripping her hand tightly, terrified.

"You guys are really dumb for pulling this in a place so close to where the Fantastic Four live." I could have slapped myself, but I couldn't help it. Mom would say I had a Johnny moment.

"I guess you don't talk much with your parents, because they just happen to be in Russia right now." I narrowed my eyes in frustration, staring at the man in the reflection. I had the power and I was powerless. My hands were gripping my purse so hard my knuckles were turning white. I felt my power tingling all over my body as I stared. blindly fearing that if I moved an inch he would pull the trigger on that horrible looking gun…

"What the hell?!" I gasped as I saw his gun suddenly dissipated in his hand, making him exclaim in surprise. The woman took that opportunity to yank her daughter away from his grasp. That's all I needed. I dropped to the ground and placed my hands on the floor. It rippled to my eyes and trapped the man behind me. Then I looked over to where the other three had paused at their bosses yell. The ripples raced towards them and they found themselves a foot lower, their feet trapped in the floor. I turned back to glance at the man behind me with distain.

"Guess you didn't know all of what I could do." I said haughtily. I spoke too soon. I didn't know one of the other men also had a gun.

All I heard was the sound of it going off.


	9. Chapter 9

Three hours later I was sitting in my parents lab at the Baxter building, as my parents watched the security video we had requested from the bank. I watched with them, but I didn't really need to – I remembered everything that happened. They both glanced up at me when the gun dissipated, but I just shook my head.

"Keep watching." I said, and then started to pace. The video had sound and at the sound of the gunshot, I felt myself tense up and relive the moment when the gunman fired at me. My mother gasped. What they had seen was not that I was shot – but that the bullet had harmlessly passed through me and hit the man I who was in front of me.

"Yeah. So not only can I now apparently affect objects without touching them, I'm what…? Not bulletproof. Something I've never heard of. The thing is," I said hesitantly, " is that I didn't know it was coming - I did nothing. I didn't phase the bullet." My father swiveled his chair to one of his many computer and brought up an enlargement of the video footage.

"Lets take this one step at a time. First of all, I need to see if your physiology has changed at all. Our priority is to make sure, biologically, that you are fine." I growled, but allowed Mom to hook me up to all the sensors. As amazing as it was to have these powers, it was starting to remind me of when I used to be in and out of the lab all of the time during my childhood. I hated it.

As I stood there, waiting for Dad to run the tests, I wished, not for the first time, for a brother or sister. Then at least someone else would understand – but I guess that was kind of selfish to wish that someone else would be going through the same things I am going through now.

"Now, can you recreate your mood right before you phased the gun?" I flashed back to the bank. To how helpless I felt. And how furious.

"Jennifer stop!" I looked up to see Mom, who had been looking over Dads, shoulder, shout out.

I slowly looked down. The floor was rippling under my feet. Oh my –

Suddenly there was no floor.

I was in a freefall through concrete, stone and steel and then nothing. I felt a scream curdling in my throat, but there was no time to scream. I felt the next floor racing up to meet me and I closed my eyes. But there was no crushing impact. The floor became like a pool and it cushioned my fall. I opened my eyes to see the floor closing above me and couldn't breath. It was like Mom said – if I didn't stop this, then I would fall all the way to the ground floor and still downward because of gravity. I blinked and my descent slowed. I was concentrating. I imagined the concrete in front of me solidifying into hand and foot holds.

With a gasp and a huge inhalation of air, my head burst through the floor. I felt a hand grab me under the shoulders and pull me out of the floor. It was Dad. I felt Mom create a force field around me so I kneel there without the fear of falling through the floor. "I guess its back to the lab again right?" I asked, shakily smiling.

"Are you alright?" Dad asked. I nodded.

"I was able to control it. So no harm done." I said. Thank goodness I had been able to control that. But now it was going to be more time getting myself back under full control.

It only took a week. One more week to get myself back to "normal." But the occasional moment happened where my emotions got the best of me and well….things happened. After a bad day in class or work, I would be pacing in my room and then phase through the floor into the apartment below mine. That was embarrassing. And to be honest sometimes I would get a little carried away.

Two weeks after my last power surge, I was being followed again by the paparazzi, who were trying to get a shot of me using my powers after I phased through a wall right in front of them.

"You want a show?!" I finally stopped and whirled around on them. I narrowed my eyes and every one of their cameras dissipated into nothing. Then I turned and walked off amid, for the first time, silence.

The only thing that was weird about that last power surge was the fact Dad found out that I didn't phase the bullet intentionally or unintentionally. Dad discovered that my body phased to let the bullet go harmlessly through me. But try as I might, I couldn't duplicate that ability again after that. Dad surmised that I was protecting myself somehow and because I wasn't powerful enough to phase something like a speeding bullet, I phased myself in that one moment in a purely reactionary action. So short of threatening my life again, I would never know if I could learn to use that particular power ever again.

But a few days later my uncle Grimm announced some news that made me forget all about that power. Alicia's sister had passed away and left her children to her and Ben.


	10. Chapter 10

Their names were Donovan and Becca, Donovan being the older one. I had met them before, at a few reunions when I was younger, but it has been awhile since I've seen them. What a horrible situation to bring people together, I thought glumly. Donovan was turning 13 in just a week.

Those poor kids, I thought, watching as they stood silently by Alicia. She was being strong for them, but I knew how much her sister's death crushed her. Uncle Grim was not there – he knew that if he attended, the media would come and he didn't want to subject Alicia's family to that. Mom and I came because we were able to loose the paparazzi the easiest.

I turned to her and gave her a hug, surprising her.

"I don't know what I'd do if I lost you." I murmured, squeezing her tight.

"I don't know what _I'd_ do if I lost _you_." She replied, hugging me back. I released her and took a deep breath. It was time for the burial.

It was not a good day.

A few weeks later, I got a call from Alicia, asking if I could babysit for a few days. She had to fly to Tennessee where her sister lived, to take care of some business that came up and Uncle Grim was helping my parents and Johnny with a troublesome volcano that was threatening to destroy the island it was on. Of course, I didn't mind. But after replacing the phone, I started to worry. I have never babysat before. And with everything that happened? I shrugged. At least around the kids, I wouldn't have to worry about surviving a shoot out or anything.

"You remember your cousin Jenny?" Donovan nodded hesitantly and Becca just kinda gave one quick jerk of her head. "I know you will be fine with her, she will walk you to school and pick you up afterwards. Then afterwards, maybe take you to the park?" I nodded. Whatever would keep them happy. Donovan shrugged and Becca said nothing, but she clung to Alicia like her life depended on it.

"Don't go," I heard her whisper. Alicia bend down and whispered something in her ear.

"Ok?" Alicia asked her and Becca nodded. Alicia hugged her and then turned to Donovan.

"See you later, Aunt Alicia." He murmured before she could do anything. I frowned. Alicia hesitated and then turned to me and gave me a hug.

"Thank you," She whispered in my ear. I just smiled and watched as she left.

"So, you guys ate and its only 7. What do you want to do?" I asked, perhaps a little to cheerily.

"I have to do a workbook page." Becca said in a small voice.

"I'll watch TV." Donovan said, already heading for the living room.

"Ok…do you want me to help you with your homework, Becca?" She nodded and led me to the kitchen table, where her workbook was already laid out. I looked over her shoulder as she sat down.

"Ha!" She looked at me questioningly. I pointed to her book. "Multiplying. I remember those days. Now its all variables and logarithmic equations and…" I trailed off as I saw her face. "Never mind. So what should I do?" She pointed to the stopwatch.

"Use that to time me. Its how many I can get done and right in a minute." I nodded, grabbing the stopwatch.

"Ready? Go," I pushed the button. As Becca wrote frantically, I glanced over in Donovan's direction.

"So Donovan…Do you have a nickname like Becca?" He glanced at me and then back at the TV as he clicked through the channels.

"No."

"Oh." I didn't really know what to say. Then the station stopped at a news channel. Guess who was on TV.

"Wait, pause there." I asked. It looked like the volcano did erupt, but most of the flow was diverted into the ocean on the non inhabited side, thanks to the Fantastic Four. A live feed came in. Mom and Dad were talking to some of the emergency units and Johnny was, of course, giving the newswoman an exclusive on how they saved the island. Then the camera showed Ben, who was helping the rescue crews clear some of the structural damage.

I was startled as Donovan suddenly changed the channel.

"Hey…" I started.

"He is nothing like my dad. My dad came to the funeral." I frowned.

"He didn't come because he didn't want the media to upset your family. And this was quite a time for your dad to show up – " I froze. Not appropriate to say to children under the age of 15. Donovan gave me a deadly glare and then left he living room. I looked over at Becca, who had heard the whole thing, workbook forgotten. I sighed and looked at the stopwatch.

"Time." I said quietly.


	11. Chapter 11

The next day, after I got the kids to school, I was at the library when I got a phone call from an unknown number.

"Hello, is this Ms. Storm? This is Kingsbury Middle School. Alicia Grimm gave us this number in case we needed to get ahold of you." I straightened up, worried.

"What's wrong?"

"Well, it appears that Donovan got in a bit of a fight with a fellow student…." I shoved my books in my backpack.

"I'll be right over."

I spotted Donovan sitting in the office, his arms crossed across his chest. There was someone taking to the secretary, so I sat down next to him.

"So, first day at school and already in a fight? Nice work." No response. "Fighting never solved anything…"

"Whatever." Well, at least he spoke. I sighed and leaned back.

"Why'd you do it?" I asked. Donovan shrugged. "So I came all the way down here and you got into a fight for no reason?"

"He said that I should be happy my mom is dead cuz now I get a celebrity family." My eyes bugged out, I knew it.

"What?" I asked in a deadly voice. Then I glanced up to see a boy sitting a ways off, holding his nose with a Kleenex while being coddled by one of the secretaries.

"That him?" Donovan nodded, stonily.

"You didn't hit him hard enough." Donovan glanced at me surprised. I shrugged, but I was furious. Where did that kid get off saying something like that?

I signed him out, saying I would see he got properly disciplined at home. Of course what I did do was buy him lunch and ice cream.

On the way back to the school to pick up Becca, I glanced at Donovan and then away, clearing my throat.

"I'm sorry I said that last night. It was very uncool of me." Donovan shrugged.

"You were right." I felt like a hug might be a little much for his ego, so I settled for patting him on the back.

When we got to the school, we went to the office, where we were going to meet Becca, but she wasn't there. Frowning, I asked the secretary if she had seen her.

"Oh, her father came and picked her up. Told me to tell you that he would call you." I froze and I heard Donovan stand up behind me.

"Not possible." I said through gritted teeth. "Her father was not allowed to pick her up today. Or any day for that matter." The secretary began to look uncomfortable. That could be because I had just phased her hands to the desk.

"He had a note from her mother…"

"Also not possible – her mother is dead and her guardians would rather let rabid dogs come and get her than her father." Donovan stepped up to the counter.

"It's true. Plus our dad hasn't seen us in years except for the funeral." Then the phone rang on her desk. I let the secretary go and she picked it up.

"Kingbur—oh, um….ok." The secretary looked up at me, her eyes wide. "It's for you." I grabbed the phone and put it to my ear.

"Go to Grimm's apartment, bring the boy. Leave your phone and tell the secretary that everything is fine. Anything funny, the girl pays for it. We are watching and listening." Then there was a dial tone. I replaced the receiver and looked at the secretary.

"Well, that's all cleared up. Apparently, he was allowed to come today and pick up both kids, but then Donovan had to go and get in trouble. Sorry for the mess up." I should have taken up acting. Then I spun around, grabbing Donovan.

"Where are we going? Whats going on?" He asked, as I dragged him along behind me.

"I need you to do everything I say, ok? This is going to be a bad day." I said grimly as I tossed my phone in the trash outside. For the people who took Becca, that is.


	12. Chapter 12

I told Donovan to do exactly what I said when we got there. He nodded, trying to keep a brave front. I was terrified. It was different then when I was in the bank or facing my friend's psychotic boyfriend. I was alone then. Now, I was responsible for my two cousins, both of whom were counting on me to get them out of this. I glanced around me then tenderly touched Donovan's shoulder. "Everything will be okay." I said, lightly touching his neck.

We entered the apartment silently, Donovan behind me.

"Close the door behind you." A man's voice came from the living room where I couldn't see him. "Then walk to the table and blindfold yourself." I spotted the blindfold and grimly tied it around my eyes. Then I heard Donovan yelp; I turned and felt a cold rod touch my neck. Fire ran through my body and then everything went black.

I opened my eyes with aching hands and feet. A strange sensation after be electrocuted.

"You're awake." I blinked as Johnny and my mother leaned over me. "So what is it with you and electrocution?" I glared at Johnny as I slowly sat up.

"How did you find me?"

"Alica and I found you when we came home." I looked over to see Ben sitting in the corner. "Jen, what happened? Where are the kids?" I told them what happened is a low voice. When I finished, Ben stood up and promptly punched a hole in the wall with a roar.

"We have to assume the kidnappers will call with demands. We will get them back Ben." Mom said, trying to calm him down. That's when Dad came striding into the room.

"Perfect." I said, jumping off the table. "Dad, you need to activate my tracking device." I glanced at everyone else. "I knew there would be a chance that something would happen to me. So I phased my locator to Donovan." A smile broke out over Dad's face.

"That's my girl. I'll start triangulating the signal but…" Dad looked at me. "I have to tell you first why I came in here. I think we found out what your weakness is, Jenny." I frowned at him. "Hold up your hands." I did, glancing at them, then I did a double take.

"What the..?" Johnny said, peering forward. My eyes widened. My hands were see through. But as I looked at them, they appeared to be getting denser and denser. "The electricity through your body disoriented your molecules, making them unstable. Now, you should be alright in a few hours, but it appears that electricity has the ability to scatter your molecules – a great amount could make your entire body unstable and unable to maintain its structure." I looked at my dad, the realization dawning on me. "So if I'm electrocuted for a long amount of time, or with a massive voltage – I could….come apart?" Dad looked at Mom and nodded slowly.

"Well, then, I'll try not to stick my finger any more sockets." I said weakly.

"You have got to be kidding me!" I growled. I was grounded?!

"We are not risking you getting electrocuted again. We have the signal and we are going to get them back." I followed my father to the jet.

"But you are risking mom? Together we could watch each others backs…."

"I said no!" I froze as my father's voice echoed harshly throughout the chamber. Both Ben and Johnny stared at him until mom broke the silence.

"Jenny, please just listen to you father." Susan Storm touched her husband lightly on the shoulder and stepped into the jet. Johnny glanced at me with an encouraging smile and followed her. Ben was already settled inside. My father paused then followed the other three. I was left to watch them go.

I know they just wanted the best for me. But the thing about family related issues is just that – its family related issues. I wasn't part of the Fantastic Four, but I was a part of the Fantastic Four's family. And so were Donovan and Becca. The difference was that I was not a child anymore.

I raised my hand in front of my face and narrowed my eyes. With a small pop of pain, my hand instantly became solid again. I blinked, and my vision suddenly changed. It was like I could see the world as parts- as molecules. I blinked again and my vision was normal again. That was strange. Not so much the vision part – but the power boost I felt. Like I could rearrange the world however I liked it.

I turned, striding over to the computer.

"Log on user Jenny102. Run backwards trace on program Tracer." The computer flicked through some screens and a command portal for my father's Tracer system opened.

"Run Tracer # 102: ID Jennifer Richards Storm: Interest: global coordinates."


End file.
